Alcohol and Hot Tubs not a very good combination

Think beer and hot tubs go together like peas and carrots? Think again. Our friends at Swimuniversity.com expound on the dangers of drinking alcoholic beverages in a hot tub:

Soaking Under The Influence: 5 Reasons Why Drinking In The Hot Tub is a Bad Idea

You're probably enjoying an ice cold beer in your hot tub right now reading this article on a waterproof iPad or something, but the truth is, you really shouldn't drink and soak in your hot tub at the same time.

I know it's not something you want to hear because it seems drinking and hot tubs go together like peas and carrots – and yes I stole that analogy from Forrest Gump.

If this article is bumming you out already, I urge you to keep reading so you at least know the risks. I personally enjoy consuming alcoholic beverages – I'm a homebrewer for Pete's sake! However, while writing this article, it really opened my eyes to the dangers of drinking and hot tubbing.

5 Reasons You Shouldn't Drink Alcohol in a Hot Tub

1. Extreme Dehydration

Hot tubs make you sweat, even though you don't really feel it because you're in water, and sweating dehydrates you. Dehydration increases the effects of alcohol.

You know what else makes you dehydrated? Alcohol!

When you wake up the following morning with a pounding headache that won't seem to go away, that's partly due to dehydration. So imagine doubling that headache the next morning. No thank you.

Extreme dehydration can cause you to become light-headed, dizzy, nauseous and can even induce heart palpitations, a coma, or death.

This reason alone should make you want to put down a beer and pick up a glass of water while in the hot tub.

2. Heat Exhaustion

Alcohol expands your blood vessels and increases your body temperature – the same goes for soaking in a hot tub – and as we talked about before, hot tubs and alcohol cause dehydration. This combination can lead to heat exhaustion.

The most common signs and symptoms are:

Confusion and Dizziness

Fainting or Fatigue

Headache

Nausea

Extreme sweating

Rapid heartbeat

If you show any of these signs while drinking in the hot tub, get out and stop drinking! In fact, you need to cool your body down by drinking lots of water and taking a cool shower.

3. Passing Out

Relaxing in a hot tub is amazing. Your muscles are relaxed, your mind is relaxed, and it makes it so easy for you to simply fall asleep and drift away into dreamland.

Drinking alcohol can also be relaxing. It relaxes your muscles, it relaxes your mind and it's very easy for you to fall asleep pass out and drift away into dreamland.

Combining this two sleep inducers can lead to you completely passing out and sinking underwater. This is extremely dangerous, especially if you are alone.

Going under water while you're unconscious from drinking can lead to a drowning death or drowning-related injury.

4. Drowning Due To Wild Behavior

Believe it or not, alcohol can make you lose your inhibitions and do some really dumb stuff you would NEVER do if you were sober. I have done "the worm" at many weddings and bachelor parties that I later regret.

Although, doing "really dumb stuff" in or near a hot tub can make things very dangerous and could even lead to an accidental death.

[NOTE: I'm not just talking about the hot tubber here. If you're drinking in the hot tub when children are present, you could lose your ability to keep an eye on them and something terrible might happen. Drinking not only has a negative effect on you, it can also have a negative effect on those around you.]

And as if you needed another reason...

5. Broken Glass

Glass shatters when it's cold and is quickly heated up. If you have a COLD beer bottle near a HOT tub with HOT water, you run the risk of that glass shattering into your hot tub.

That will cause you to drain the hot tub immediately and clean up all the broken glass. That's a least a day of cleaning your tub that you wasted just because you wanted a beer. Think before you drink, especially in your hot tub.

Have I Convinced You?

When you think about it, the ideal time to soak in a hot tub is only about 20 minutes. That means it wouldn't kill you to wait a little bit and save your drinks until after the hot tub session.

Even then, you should still limit the amount of drinking you do after hot tubbing.

James Atlas, an 22-year veteran of the swimming pool industry, is the owner and co-principal of Platinum Poolcare Ltd., a residential swimming pool construction, renovation and maintenance company with service to several commercial aquatic properties including the Bulls, Bears and White Sox training facilities.

Platinum Poolcare Owner James Atlas came to the pool industry after three years of options trading after college, cashing in his chips to work with father Ronald Atlas, owner of Paragon Pools, a commercial pool construction and design company. An entrepreneur at heart, Atlas quickly started up an off–shoot company, Fountain Technologies, through which he designed and constructed water features for luxury residential and commercial properties.

When his brother took over that company, Atlas founded Pool Watch, a management company servicing recreational pools with lifeguard staffing, facility openings, closings and general maintenance. He sold Fountain Technologies and Pool Watch in 1994 and 1995.

Looking to broaden his skill set in the pool servicing industry, Atlas went back to his family pool business, working as a project estimator for multi-million-dollar waterparks, competition pools, high-rise pools, and other large-scale projects.

After a few years, Atlas began receiving consistent inquiries from residential property owners interested in pool construction and servicing. With his father’s blessing, Atlas took the reigns on those new accounts and formed a new company called Platinum Aquatech.

Again looking to go off on his own, Atlas teamed up with Terry Smith, owner of Poolcare Aquatech, another partner company with Ronald Atlas which focused on the service and maintenance. The two companies merged, with Terry and James owning a fifty-fifty share in 2007, effectively becoming Platinum Poolcare Aquatech, Ltd.

Company Background

Platinum Poolcare Aquatech, Ltd., founded in 2007, and resulting from a merger of Platinum Aquatech, Ltd. (luxury swimming pool construction) and Poolcare Aquatech, Ltd.(service, repairs, renovations of swimming pools and spas), specializes in all aspects of pool design, construction and renovation with added focus on specialty aquatic features such as waterfalls, lazy rivers, rock water applications, statuary and other luxury waterscape amenities. The company also provides installation and maintenance services for its customers.

Platinum Poolcare has raised the standards of excellence in residential and commercial pools, spa and waterscape design and construction. We have a combined half-century of experience in building, servicing, maintaining, and renovating award-winning and nationally-recognized gunite pools throughout the greater Chicago area and other Midwest states.

Based in Wheeling, Ill., the company’s headquarters spans 10,000 square-feet of warehouse and office space with 46 trucks, 130 employees during peak season, and one of the industry’s largest onsite replacement parts inventory for quick fixes.

Platinum Poolcare has repeatedly graced the cover of various industry magazines, and has earned hundreds of awards for its designs. The company belongs to the prestigious, invitation-only Aquatech Society for professional pool builders.